The Role of Oxytocin in Human-Dog Relationships

Oxytocin (OT) is a naturally occurring hormone involved in social bond formation and maintenance in both dogs and humans. Recent research has explored how nasal administration of OT affects canine cognition and behavior, including dogs’ ability to use communicative cues provided by humans and its effect on proximity-seeking behavior. Due to OT’s important role in human-dog relationships, it has been suggested that nasally-administered OT may have important effects in applied settings for modifying problem behavior or increasing sociability in shelter dogs. However current findings suggest that more applied research is greatly needed, as the effects of exogenous OT on sociability and attachment behavior can be subtle. Results from studies investigating the effects of OT on attachment behavior in dogs, as well as OT’s effects on sociability in shelter dogs will be discussed.

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